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Monday, March 5, 2012

Daily Devotional- Parenting

33 But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife.34 His
interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer
married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in
body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly
responsibilities and how to please her husband.35 I
am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I
want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few
distractions as possible.

PUT GOD FIRST

Let's focus on the thought behind this passage, rather than its more
difficult teaching about the advisability of marriage. Paul understood
the tension a man or woman would face when they were married and had a
family. The nature of the responsibility is such that a parent's
attention is divided between the temporal family and God. That is a
tension we all live with.

On the other hand, it is very clear that our first loyalty is to God,
trusting Him to help us deal with all our other responsibilities. The
key is to keep our focus on walking in God's will, and to model that
devotion for the entire family.

We cannot shun our responsibilities as parents, but we can place our
family in the correct position, behind God, in the hierarchy of our love
and attention.